Sharing the Hope found after WLS!

Well today has been one of those days. I know when you hear people say that it is usually not meant in a good way BUT with this site intended for nothing but good what do you think is going to come next? Yep, you guessed it, it was a GOOD day today!

Let me back up to last night. Although I missed my second family…that is my WLS support group, sanity, encouragement, HEALTHY, ever shrinking, near-and-dear-to-my-heart friends, I was were I needed to be last night. I was with my family that has been with me at my worst and at my best they have loved me most through it all. I was at my daughter Mekayla’s FIRST band performance playing the saxophone. Can you say EMOTIONAL BASKET CASE?!?! Yep, those 3 words described me last night. She got dressed and looked so grown up….I cried. She got up on the stage, started playing, and sounded so good that….I cried. When they were done playing they sat together while other bands played so I ran over to be the “Mamarazzi” that I am and let me tell you that was “So not cool Mom.”so…..I cried. I get in the car to come home, check Facebook to see where my sweet friend Rhonda posted a picture of all my pretty women at group with the title “We miss you.” so…you guessed it…Yep, I CRIED!!!

I am so proud of my BABY girl—you could say I am in denial as this child is 12 yrs. old—she is such a good kid and so talented. She teaches me so much daily about myself and life. So with my puffy eyes and emotionally spent self I retreated to bed without uploading all the pictures from the evening as I was really an EMOTIONAL BASKET CASE!

I woke up this morning to my GOOD DAY preceding the good day before ;-). Slept well, got up ready to face the day, I did not say that it came easily but I gave in, turned on “auto pilot”, and got ready for work. Got the kids off to school and then it was MY turn for my morning ritual that involves the stuff they *say* gives you hair on your chest…yep, the stuff that my patients and co-workers are so happy to know I take the time to stop and get so I can function properly throughout the day. THE stuff called COFFEE, glorious COFFEE, it makes my heart so happy! There is usually a long line and that is my time to sit and read email, facebook, and texts. It truly is “MY TIME” even if it is only for 20 minutes I treasure it daily.

So I am sitting having “MY TIME” and as usual get up to the screen to order and they already know it is me by blurting out “Venti Pikes Place with Soy and 4 Splendas?” Yep, that’s me! So I proceed forward waiting my turn to pay *very* patiently. I get to the window and the woman says, “Sweetheart, that nice lady in the car in front of you paid for your coffee, you don’t owe me anything. She pays for the person behind her every morning, that is how she starts her day.” Are you serious?!?! I mean I have just told you how much coffee makes my heart sing and this complete stranger pays for it?!?! I took my coffee and said “Thanks see ya tomorrow!” With THE biggest smile on my face. I pulled away from the window and then it hit me.

There is so much that could be learned from this person. I went to work and could hardly wait to tell them about this generous person and what a blessing they were to me and how humbled I was. It is not about making sure I get behind this lady again in the drive thru, it is not about the car she drives (yes, it was a nice one), it’s not about her being known or taking credit for what she has done, it wasn’t about how big or small my order was because quite frankly she was going to pay for it no matter what. It was her heart. It was her “paying it forward”. It was her not needing to know someone to do something nice. It was not about giving to receive. It was the most selfless thing she could do for someone, she does it DAILY, and she did it for me.

This TRULY made my day, it may sound silly to say that it was THE best cup of coffee I have had in a while because it was one given to me from the heart. I almost didn’t want to throw the cup away and maybe I shouldn’t have, now I’m kicking myself for not even so much as taking a picture of the darn thing….grrrr. What I learned from this lady is that the very 2 things I take for granted everyday…coffee and my red holiday cup…is what makes her day. She gives from her heart daily without judgement and bias of others. I know I will never look at coffee the same in the mornings and hope to live out the lesson’s I have learned from this lady.

So I want to leave a few thoughts here. I try and “pay it forward” every time I write a post, I know that people I don’t know will read this and I hope it touches their heart because it came from mine. I try and see the good in myself and everyone. I try not to take my tool, friendships, and inspiration for granted…they are so special to me and I am better person because of them. I can’t change the ways of the world but I can make sure that the direct and INdirect contact I make with people comes from the heart and is real. After all look at the word indirect…means not having direct contact right? Well, this lady this morning had INdirect contact with me yet she left a DIRECT stamp IN my heart by her gesture today. I can only learn from that and strive to be that everyday. My hope for us all is that we will see the good in ourselves and others, don’t seek out the negative, it has not made you the person you are. Seek out the good and beauty for it is what gives you life and keeps you going.

I need to share with you all something that was shared with me last night at my Women’s Christmas Dinner at Church by the Pastor’s Wife. I found this so profound and if we could do this EVERYDAY in our lives BOY HOWDY we would be MUCH happier people! I’m feel like I am on the right path but still have room for improvement….don’t we all? That’s why we are here!

So it goes like the title….DO what YOU want! No, it doesn’t mean “Go on Girl, do whatever you want, whatcha waitin for?!?” It means, DO what YOU want, DO what YOU want done to you.

If you want for people to like you, then like people and make an effort to get to know them and their heart. “What we think we know about people keeps us from really knowing them.” -Kathy W (she is a friend of Jill’s who spoke before Jill did and was amazing too!).

If you want to reach that next goal, then do what you need to do to reach it, excercise, get support, eat healthy. “Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” -Stephen A. Brennan

If you want others to help you and walk with you, then put yourself out there for others and lend them a hand when they need it. “Never look down on anyone unless you are helping them up”

If you want to laugh, then laugh with people! “A sense of humor… is needed armor. Joy in one’s heart and some laughter on one’s lips is a sign that the person down deep has a pretty good grasp of life.” -Hugh Sidey

So, I am going to analyze my life, my friendships, marriage, and professional relationships. I am going to really think about what I want out of all aspects of my life and I am going to make a list of those things. Then I am going to DO what I want to be done on that list. So the bottom line is:

Make a list.
Read the list.
BE the list.

I don’t know about you but that seems like a pretty simple logic that will take us the rest of our lives to complete, but when we put our best foot forward and give it all we got then we are not just spinning our wheels, we ARE getting somewhere! We are ever-changing and always a work in progress but when we have little nuggets like this to live by it makes life so much more fun, positive, and encouraging!

Not a big Katie Perry fan, BUT I LOVE this song and it’s lyrics, Barney the Big Purple dinosaur could sing it for all I care! It is a beautiful song so I just wanted to share it! It has so much meaning to ALL of our lives! Let you colors BURST!!!